No financial difference since you will not qualify for unemployment benefits in either case as you indicated you do not plan to look for work. Both forms are qualifying life events to make you eligible for COBRA health insurance participation if you choose.

If you have enough and aren't going to work anymore, I'd call that retired.

What to tell your boss probably depends on the place of employment. Is there any type of official retirement program or process (pension or continued benies), or would you simply resign and be done? It's probably mincing words. You have enough, what do you care how to word it?

I don't remember that issue coming up when I left my last job but there were a lot of changes at the time.

You don't have to give a reason in your letter of resignation, just stick to a short and simple notification.

Your age might influence what you say. If you are over 55, people might assume that you are retiring. If you are under 55 or otherwise don't really want to address the issue when asked, then you can just say you are taking some time off from work to do other things, or don't know exactly what you will be doing, both of which are technically true. You don't know for sure what the future holds, anyway.

I have found that just people upfront and honest with people usually is the best course so there is really no reason to be evasive about the fact that your are retiring. If you are evasive about what you are doing they may be concerned that you some reason to be evasive like are going to work for a competitor, or going into drug rehab.

I gave two weeks notice when I retired and retiring meant that I got a retirement lunch and retirement gift and there was less awkwardness during the last two weeks. I have also gone back to the office a couple of times for things like a retirement lunch for another coworker.

Some people feel like they should give more than two weeks notice when they are going to retire compared to when they leave for a different job. There may be a few job niches where that would be normal and appropriate but for the vast majority of jobs I would suggest just giving two weeks notice since they can always ask you to stay a bit longer if they really need you longer.

I had taken a vacation a few months before I retired so people were well cross trained to fill in for me while I was out of the office so there was very little that I needed to do to hand off my responsibilities to other people.

About a week after I gave my notice I had finished up or passed on almost all my current projects so the last week was very boring and slow since I had little to do.

An employer will often formally define "retirement" somewhere for purposes of retiree benefits, etc. Whether you consider and call it "retirement" won't really matter to them.

My thoughts exactly. One classic example of this is the military. After completing 20 years of active service, service members can "retire" from the military with a pension and other benefits. For those who joined the military fresh out of high school, it is highly improbable I think that they'll stop working completely at the young age of 38.

At Megacorp there are different forms to fill out for retirement or resignation. I don't know for sure that the retirement package needs to be used to get pension started. Other than that it wouldn't make much difference. Either way it's voluntary severance. You'd get payout for unused vacation and 1/2 sick leave.

This week's fortune cookie: "Your financial life will be secure and beneficial." So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Maybe you should start with only telling your employer that you are resigning from your current position on a certain date, and leave it at that. See what your manager says. You may get an interesting question about perhaps taking on a different more interesting job within your current company that you might not have thought possible to get, or be asked if some sort of on-going part-time support might be feasible.

It is sometimes hard to know the entire range of the possible (with your current employer) until your manager knows that you've decided that staying with what you are currently doing full-time doesn't suit you.

If your manager only says "Thanks for letting us know!" or "See ya", you won't need to tell them that your intention is to retire from participating anywhere in the national workforce in any capacity.

Where I worked, once you became eligible for early retirement (with a few benefits but no pension or healthcare) you were set. They couldn't take retirement away from you unless you did something illegal (embezzlement?). So once you were eligible, if you resigned, you retired as far as they were concerned. They couldn't actually fire you (without cause). They could, however, make your job go away and let you retire. (And they did indeed do that during downsizings.)

Hitting that mark was very liberating. I became eligible in 2008 and didn't retire until 2014.

Where I worked, once you became eligible for early retirement (with a few benefits but no pension or healthcare) you were set. They couldn't take retirement away from you unless you did something illegal (embezzlement?). So once you were eligible, if you resigned, you retired as far as they were concerned. They couldn't actually fire you (without cause). They could, however, make your job go away and let you retire. (And they did indeed do that during downsizings.)

Hitting that mark was very liberating. I became eligible in 2008 and didn't retire until 2014.

Where I worked, once you became eligible for early retirement (with a few benefits but no pension or healthcare) you were set. They couldn't take retirement away from you unless you did something illegal (embezzlement?). So once you were eligible, if you resigned, you retired as far as they were concerned. They couldn't actually fire you (without cause). They could, however, make your job go away and let you retire. (And they did indeed do that during downsizings.)

Hitting that mark was very liberating. I became eligible in 2008 and didn't retire until 2014.

Retirement means you are initiating your retirement benefits. There would be a huge difference between that and resigning.

Not necessarily. I retired August 1st 2015, but delayed my pension 4 months, and I could have delayed my pension as long as I chose.

I chose to retire rather than resign because the company offered a significant incentive if I gave them 12 months notice of my plans. In theory that would give management time to identify & train my replacement. I practice, they dragged their feet for 11 months and then asked me if I would delay my retirement. I declined.

I did, however, later agree to come back as a consultant at triple my former salary to bridge the gap.

Retirement means you are initiating your retirement benefits. There would be a huge difference between that and resigning.

Not necessarily. I retired August 1st 2015, but delayed my pension 4 months, and I could have delayed my pension as long as I chose.

I chose to retire rather than resign because the company offered a significant incentive if I gave them 12 months notice of my plans. In theory that would give management time to identify & train my replacement. I practice, they dragged their feet for 11 months and then asked me if I would delay my retirement. I declined.

I did, however, later agree to come back as a consultant at triple my former salary to bridge the gap.

Delaying your pension is an act of initiating your retirement benefits. I assume what you mean by this is they processed your departure as a retirement and asked you or allowed you to then specify when you wanted your pension to start. Perhaps another way to put it, is that the difference is in how you go down in the books at the company. Departing at less than "retirement age" would also be a resignation and not a retirement. There can be other distinctions as well, such as retaining right to exercise unexpired stock options, etc.

I told my manager I was resigning because I was considering looking for another job after taking the summer off. Since my company has no retirement benefits there was no practical difference. After the summer, I decided not to look for a job. So, by my "mental accounting" I resigned and then retired 3 months later. FWIW, if I had not planned to look for another job, I would have told him I was retiring.

To my employer, I was resigning. To me, I was retiring. That was 9 years ago, when I was 45. My pension had been frozen since 2002. I get a small interest credit in the cash-balance plan every year, as shown in the annual pension plan statements I receive.

I actually want to leave quietly. That is why I am thinking not to announce my retirement. I certainly do not like a party, I am an introvert.

1. Start with your employee handbook. What does it say? Mine discusses two different forms of voluntary separation: Resignation and Retirement. There are some stipulations on certain retirement benefits at my company (i.e. you must be 62 or older).

2. If it is still not clear, go to HR and ask for the definitions. Tell them you are doing some long-term planning and want to understand the implications. If you are over, say, age 55 they will not be surprised that you are contemplating your future choices.

3. Meet the requirements of the employee handbook (if they ask for 2 weeks notice, give them 2 weeks notice). It is unwise to burn bridges, even if you are retiring permanently and would never return under any condition.

Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future - Niels Bohr | To get the "risk premium", you really do have to take the risk - nisiprius

In one instance they throw you a party and you aren't really expected to do anything for your last month on the job. In the other instance you are shown the door as quickly as possible.

I actually want to leave quietly. That is why I am thinking not to announce my retirement. I certainly do not like a party, I am an introvert.

I have seen many employees retire without any fanfare. Make sure you let HR know it's a retirement if there benefits involved. The people who have left quietly simply announced that xxxx is their last day, thanked their colleagues and left a personal email. Nothing more is required.

I actually want to leave quietly. That is why I am thinking not to announce my retirement. I certainly do not like a party, I am an introvert.

1. Start with your employee handbook. What does it say? Mine discusses two different forms of voluntary separation: Resignation and Retirement. There are some stipulations on certain retirement benefits at my company (i.e. you must be 62 or older).

2. If it is still not clear, go to HR and ask for the definitions. Tell them you are doing some long-term planning and want to understand the implications. If you are over, say, age 55 they will not be surprised that you are contemplating your future choices.

3. Meet the requirements of the employee handbook (if they ask for 2 weeks notice, give them 2 weeks notice). It is unwise to burn bridges, even if you are retiring permanently and would never return under any condition.

My Company was doing periodic layoffs due to reduced demand in our specific industry. I was managing a project but was able to negotiate a several month delayed retirement (to complete the project) in return for a layoff vs straight retirement. Admittedly this was a somewhat unique scenario but something to think about if you happen to be considering retirement and are in an industry where layoffs are occurring. The severance payment, continued salary for several months and Cobra coverage for my Wife, who is younger, were very valuable.

My Company was doing periodic layoffs due to reduced demand in our specific industry. I was managing a project but was able to negotiate a several month delayed retirement (to complete the project) in return for a layoff vs straight retirement. Admittedly this was a somewhat unique scenario but something to think about if you happen to be considering retirement and are in an industry where layoffs are occurring. The severance payment, continued salary for several months and Cobra coverage for my Wife, who is younger, were very valuable.

For several years before I retired I seemed to be constantly engaged with successful businesses and was never able to take a buy out. For awhile there were people who made out like bandits, then they severely cut back the severance and it wasn't so cool anymore. This was an overall very successful company but that didn't stop them from dumping people one place or another.

Does your company have special retirement rules vs resigning rules? For example, where I work, if you qualify for retirement as they define it, you receive a prorated bonus for time worked that year. So if you qualify for a $35,000 bonus and work 6 months of the fiscal year, you would be eligible to get $17,500 when that fiscal year’s bonuses are paid out. If you resign or are terminated you forfeit your bonus.

Some companies have stock options or other incentive programs that immediately terminate if you resign, but in some cases continue to operate if you retire. Your vesting may cease, but the period during which you are allowed to exercise may be different. Some terminate immediately on resignation. You will need to investigate your own terms and company policy because these vary widely from company to company.